1624. The Fruit of the Spirit

Welcome to The Daily Platform. Our program features sermons from chapel services at Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. Every day, students are blessed by the preaching and teaching of the Bible from the University Chapel Platform. Today on The Daily Platform, we're continuing a study series entitled Walking in the Spirit.

I want to ask you to take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Galatians, Chapter 5. If you've been here any amount of time at the university and you've gone off campus to various places, probably many of you have gone up to Hendersonville, North Carolina, to an apple orchard called Skytop. How many of you have ever been up to Skytop?

Quite a few of you have. It's a pretty neat place. It's just this massive apple orchard up on the side of the mountain.

People go there and they pick the apples and they enjoy the time that is there. Well, this morning we're going to begin two messages as we work through our theme on walking in the Spirit. And today we're going to go into an orchard, or we could say we're going to go into a garden. And we're going to take the next two weeks today and next week to look at what the Apostle Paul writes about as the results of when one is walking in the Spirit. And we read this beginning in verse 22 where Paul says, but the fruit of the Spirit is, and then he gives nine distinguishable qualities or character qualities of what happens when a person is living a Spirit-filled life.

So he says, love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, and here it's referring to faithfulness, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law. And here's what I'd like us to do this morning. I'd like us to maybe take a drone look where you take a drone and you go up and you take pictures and you look down. I'd like us to take a drone shot today of the fruit of the Spirit and just make some general overall observations so that we can get a big picture. And then we'll come down into the garden and we will start looking at the individual qualities of what a person is like when they're Spirit-filled. And always remember that Paul is doing this in contrast to the works of the flesh so it is very clear, so it's unmistakable what a person is like when they are controlled by the flesh and what a person is like when they're controlled by the Spirit. So let's begin this morning with just some general observations of what the fruit of the Spirit is all about.

The first thing is this, it is clear that Paul has made a distinct contrast between the fruit of the Spirit and the works of the flesh. Now he's already stated dogmatically and emphatically that if you walk in the Spirit you will not fulfill, you will not bring to fulfillment the desires of your sin nature. I think it's important for all of us to realize that the desires of our sin nature are not the things that are going to go away. There's no point in my Christian experience where the sinful desires of my own heart have been eradicated.

I wish they were. I wish I could get a spiritual zap of sanctification and they would go away, but they're not. The desires of the flesh are always with you, but what he is saying is that if we walk in the Spirit we won't bring those desires to fulfillment. And in verses 19 through 21 as we looked at it over the last two messages he gives us an expose of the flesh. 17 different and random ways the flesh works out through our desires, through our choices, and through our actions that come out of our sinful heart. And Paul now presents this contrast when he starts with the conjunction but.

But the fruit of the Spirit is, and Paul is making a clear distinction between a life that is oriented towards pleasing oneself and a life that is oriented towards walking in the Spirit. Years ago I was preaching in a camp up in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and I was standing in the kitchen of the camp director and he had up on his refrigerator held there by a magnet a little bookshelf. And on the bookshelf was one little book that said God and the other book said self. And underneath it was a little poem I've never forgotten.

There are two choices on the shelf. Pleasing God or pleasing self. A flesh oriented life is simply pleasing self. A God centered life is seeking to please him. So Paul begins by saying there is this contrast. And secondly, the qualities of the fruit of the Spirit are based upon the believer's union with Christ. It is based upon our connection with Christ.

Over 100 times in the New Testament in Paul's 13 letters. He describes Christians with a two word phrase. That is, we are in Christ. And Paul uses and the New Testament writers use many different illustrations, biblical images that describes this union or this connection. We find, for example, in John 15 Jesus said, I am the vine, you as believers are the branch. He says in the New Testament in many of the letters Jesus is the head and the church is his body. In Ephesians 5 he speaks about the fact that he is the bridegroom and we are the bride.

That he represents the husband and the church represents the wife. And when you take these images, what we realize is that these images produce things. For example, when the vine flows through the branch it produces fruit. When the head controls the body it produces action.

When the husband and the wife are connected they produce children. And likewise the effect of somebody that is connected to Jesus Christ through the indwelling Holy Spirit is a life that produces the qualities of Jesus. What the Holy Spirit is doing is he is literally making us like Jesus. That's what it means to be a spirit filled believer. And then number three, the third observation is that these qualities are not developed by self effort on demand.

It's not DIY, do it yourself. Nor are they produced by an observance of a strict legal code. In other words, rules cannot produce spirituality or spiritual fruit in the life of an individual. You can't will, you can't create these qualities any more than a branch can produce fruit on its own. Could you imagine walking by a tree and all these branches are out and you hear all this grunting coming from the branches? And you ask the branches, what are you doing? And they're saying, we're trying to produce fruit.

Can you imagine that? You and I cannot produce the qualities of the spirit filled life. That is a work of God's grace in our life.

It is a byproduct of the life of the vine flowing through the branch. That's what the Lord gives us as an illustration. Jesus said it comes through abiding or simply dwelling in the vine. John 15 five, Jesus said, I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.

So you can't force spirituality. It is the outflow of the life of Jesus in us through the work of the Holy Spirit. The spirit living in you is Christ in you, the hope of glory. And as you and I yield our lives to the spirit's control. Man, I am so thankful that at 19 years old when I became a Christian, I was taught immediately what it means to be a spirit filled Christian. It was never about self-effort.

It was never about rules and regulations. It was about a walk with God in his word and the Holy Spirit began to work in my life. And as I learned how to depend on the Lord and obey the Lord, as we rely on the spirit and respond to the spirit, God begins to produce his qualities in our life. And then notice number four, this fruit is singular. He doesn't say the fruits of, he says the fruit of the spirit. Now, there are definitely nine different qualities, but they harmonize together to make up the perfect balance of spiritual character. It's like one diamond with nine stunning brilliant facets. It's like a whole orange. When you peel it off, take off the peel, what do you find?

You find that the orange is made up by God in different sections, and you can pull them apart and eat them, made by the hand of God's providence. The Christian life is a balance of all the qualities that we find here in verses 22 and 23, making us what we could say a whole or a complete or a full person. The fullness of Christ in our life is the fullness of these qualities. So it's not just love, but it's also self-control.

It's not just being faithful, but it's also being joyful. This is what we call balanced Christ-likeness, balanced godliness. And when we have a tendency to overemphasize one quality to the neglect of another quality, that's when we get out of balance. And this is one of the great problems among believers. And that is we often become imbalanced because of the bent of our personality. We all have personality bents, and so one bent could emphasize love, another bent can emphasize self-control and discipline, another bent could do this, another bent could do that. Or who influences us?

Because all of us have grown up in various ministries where we've been influenced by different people who emphasize certain things, but what God is trying to do is to bring us to this balance. And that leads to the fifth observation, and that is the fruit of the Spirit is developed only over time. Think about it. Fruit doesn't grow overnight.

The only thing that grows overnight are weeds, and you don't eat those for breakfast. But fruit takes time. The qualities of a Spirit-filled life are very different than the works of the flesh. Think about it.

The flesh is very, very different. Have you ever noticed that you can be fine one moment, and then something can happen, and you can react in the flesh? I mean, it's amazing. You can go to church, enjoy church, get out of church, and in five minutes you can be in a traffic jam in Greenville and be all ticked off. I mean, it's just human nature. One event can take place, and you're immediately flooded with fears. You hear something, and you become afraid. You can be walking with God and suddenly bombarded with sexual desires. And so the tendency in the flesh is always reactionary. And the reason for this is that the center of the flesh are strong, evil desires that can be easily aroused simply based on circumstances.

It's like a shark that is drawn immediately to the smell of blood. But fruit is different. Fruit grows through seasons. It takes time. The character of Christ is developed through the process of patient, consistent obedience. Day after day, dependence, obedience.

Reliance, response. It requires obedience no matter how you feel. That's why he writes in Galatians 6, Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. For if he sows to his flesh, he shall of the flesh reap corruption. If he sows to the Spirit, he shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Every person who has ever exercised knows you cannot get in shape in one workout.

It's impossible. If you go into the gym and you lift weights today, and you haven't lifted weights in your life, when you wake up in the morning, you're not going to feel good. You're going to feel bad. We know where there is no pain, there is no gain. And when you start obeying God, it's never easy. You can be highly motivated to obey God, but it's down in the trenches where you have to obey God day in and day out. But over the process of time, God is changing you.

Think about it. One semester at Bob Jones University is about the period of time that it takes to grow fruit. And over a semester, you will have ups and you will have downs, but if you patiently obey God and walk with God day in and day out, at the end of the semester, there will be in your life qualities that have been developed and are beginning to grow, and people will see the difference in your life. So fruit takes time.

And then number six. The fruit of the Spirit is a character sketch of Jesus. When you look in this garden, what are you seeing? You're actually seeing the person of Christ. If you were to study the gospels, you could see Christ manifesting these qualities in their perfection as He walks throughout His life. So being Spirit-controlled is being Christ-like. And the mission of Bob Jones University is to nurture in the life of every student Christ-like character. Our mission is the mission of the Holy Spirit, of the work of God, to bring about this transformation in your life, not just in your head, but in your heart and in your hands, in your life, living out the qualities of the Holy Spirit. Now, let's quickly move then to some specific manifestations of the fruit of the Spirit. That's the big picture.

Now let's go down into the garden. And we will categorize the fruit of the Spirit here in groups of three, or we could call them triads. And since there are three groups of three, we'll call them a triad of triads. The first three, love, joy, and peace, are manifestations of the fruit of the Spirit and the believer's relationship with God. So the love of God, the peace of God, and the joy of God. Secondly, the second triad is a manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit and the believer's relationship with others. So that's longsuffering, or patience, gentleness, and goodness. And then the last three are manifestations of the fruit of the Spirit and the believer's relationship with himself. Meekness, faithfulness, and temperance, or self-control.

So think about that. The fruit of the Spirit is primarily manifested in a relational way. Think about the two great commands, love God and love others. What is the most important thing in life?

It's actually relationships. Relationship with God, relationship with others, and how it is that I live that out in my relationship with God, others, and myself. Now, all of these things come because of our relationship with God. These are the things produced in my life as a result of knowing God in a greater way. And this morning, I'd like us to look at the very first fruit of the Spirit.

And that is the one that is the foundation for all the rest. And that is the fruit of the Spirit is love. Now, four things I want to say about love. One, love here actually is not referring to your love for God, but he's really referring to God's love for you. That is, this love is actually God's own love. This is the love that was demonstrated when Jesus hung on the cross, Romans 5-8. But God demonstrates his love to us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. If you ever wondered that Jesus, if you ever wondered if God loves you, all you have to do is look at the cross.

And Paul says something very interesting in Romans 5, verse 5. He says that when you become a child of God, when you're born again, the love of God is literally poured out into your heart through the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit of God comes to live inside your heart, he births within you a love for God. This is God's own love for himself, given to us in the person of the Holy Spirit. It is God's own love for his Son. Why do we love God? Because we naturally love God. No, the Bible says in Romans 8, verse 7, that by nature, we don't love God.

Fact is, we cannot even create love. But we love him because he first loved us. And what is spiritual growth?

It's growing in that knowledge. So Paul prays in Ephesians 3, that we might be strengthened with might by his Spirit on the inner man, that Christ would dwell in our hearts by faith, that we being rooted and grounded in love would be able to comprehend with all saints what is the length, the depth, the breadth, and the height, and to know the love of God which passes all knowledge. What is he saying to us? He is saying spiritual growth is putting my roots deeply in the love of God.

Folks, I cannot read my Bible on a daily basis and not come away knowing that God loves me. When I first started dating my wife here at Bob Jones University, that was back in the days long before cell phones. That was back in the days when we would write each other letters. And she would always write me a letter, and what was really most important to me was the way she signed it off.

So she started signing out sincerely. And then one day she wrote joyfully. And then one day in Christ. And then one day in Christian love. And the first time I ever told my wife I loved her was in the most romantic spot on the campus of Bob Jones University. You say, where is that?

It's the snack shop. It was before chapel, chapel got exciting to me. Because I told her I loved her. And finally one day she wrote me a letter and she concluded it, love. Now let me tell you what, what was exciting to me was not so much that I loved her, it was that she loved me. My son Michael got married to this wonderful girl and one day she told us she loved our son Michael. Well we thought that's a miracle. Because we know him really well.

And we went to him and we said, marry the girl as fast as possible before she changes her mind. The love that we have is not our love for God, it's God's love for us. Secondly, this love begins to free us from our own inner fears, pride, and insecurities. You see the problem with all of us is deep in our hearts.

We are proud, we're fearful people, we're very insecure. We want to be accepted, we want to be noticed, we want to be viewed as important, we want to be loved. But the problem is we seek for love in all the wrong places.

We seek the acceptance, notoriety, importance. When I was a youth pastor for two years, God really dealt with me over the fact that I wanted the teenagers to like me. And I realized one day how selfish I was. And not only that, but I realized one day how much I was actually dismissing God's love for me because God loved me no matter if anybody else loved me. If you don't love me, it's okay. God loves me. Amen?

That was weak. God loves me, amen? Look, God loves you. You're a believer. He loves you.

If she doesn't love you, you'll get over it. But God loves you. And the basis for security as a believer is in the eternal love that God has for you that He set upon you when He chose you in Christ. And then number three, love is the root source of all character development.

If you think about it, when we talk about developing character, we always think about what I do, self-effort, but actually it's different. If you go to 1 Corinthians 13 and the Bible says love is and He gives us qualities, and you go to the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 and put them together, you get the same thing. Love is patient.

And what do we read? The fruit of the Spirit is long suffering. Love is kind. What is the fruit of the Spirit? Gentleness. Love does not envy. It's not puffed up.

It doesn't bond itself. What is the fruit of the Spirit? Meekness. Love does not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own.

It's not easily provoked. What is the fruit of the Spirit? Self-control. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, never fails. What is the fruit of the Spirit? It's faithfulness. So love is the sum and the source of all the other qualities. It's the foundation.

It's the root that produces the fruit. It is the love of God shed abroad in our hearts. And these qualities come from and are produced by God's love. And then finally, the love of Christ is the controlling force of the Christian.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, 14, it is the love of Christ that constrains us. Now, what controls you? Let me just take your cell phone, okay? Everybody's got a cell phone. A cell phone is not really a phone. It's an extension of your humanity.

It's almost like a human appendage. Your cell phone. Now, I think we all understand that your cell phone can easily become an instrument and a tool of the flesh.

We all get that. But it also can become an instrument of God's love. I can't tell you how many texts that I get from people who express to me love.

Whether they're friends, whether they're family, whether they're people, other people. And everything that we do in our life is to be controlled by and motivated by the outflow of God's love in my life. It's like the most freeing experience you could ever have is to know that God loves you. And because He loves me, my identity is in Christ. And that is really all that I need.

And you know what that does? It frees me now to love you. I don't need you to get love. I want to give you love and serve you. It's the most wonderful thing. Next week, we will look at the other fruit of the Spirit. And may the Lord help us to grow in these qualities. Lord, thank you for your goodness and grace. In Jesus' name, amen. Thanks for listening, and join us again tomorrow as we'll conclude the study of Galatians chapter 5 here on The Daily Platform.